Page 25 of Blood Illusions

I straightened and headed back to the trunk where we had loaded the explosives from The Grove.

Damon opened the trunk. We gathered the explosives, put them into two separate bags, then headed back to the mine.

Justice followed us. “Wait. What if we need to come back and investigate those symbols on the wall?”

“We have pictures.” Damon led the charge, his forceful steps making it hard for me to keep up.

Justice raced in front of us. “There could be other clues to what these things are. You can’t do this.”

Damon drew his brows down into a deep scowl. “Watch me.” He brushed past Justice and headed into the mines.

Justice gave me a desperate stare. “You can’t do this.”

“Yeah, we can.”

He clasped my arm. “Please. There could be something else in the mine we haven’t found yet.”

His plea sounded reasonable, but he was a vampire, and vampires couldn’t be trusted.

A chill rippled through me from his touch, and it wasn’t unpleasant. God, what was wrong with me? I wiggled free of his grasp, or more likely, he let me break free. “You’re acting like you’re protecting these devil’s spawn.”

He raised a brow in challenge and stepped closer. “You still don’t trust me?”

I inhaled his spicy breath but refused to back up. I tilted my chin, meeting his challenge. “No, I don’t.” My tone was blunt and cold. There was no warmth or sense of understanding in my voice.

“Then why are you letting me work with you?” His soft voice had turned hard and accusing as if our shaky alliance had started to crumble.

I gave him a surly smile like Damon would have. “Right now, you’re a necessary evil.”

He winced as if I’d slapped him across the face. “Meaning you’ll hunt me later?” His voice almost sounded hurt.

I shrugged. “Maybe. Depends on if you kill any humans.”

His expression twisted in pain as I brushed past him.

Justice followed behind me, but he didn’t make a move to sabotage us while Damon and I sat the chargers to blow up the mine. We used our flashlights to mark the way. My boots sank in the bloodied ground. A shudder ran through me, and my gut tightened. I tried not to think about it.

So much gore.

So much death.

So much endless cruelty.

We placed some of the charges in the symbol room. Justice shook his head as if he thought we were doing something really stupid. It wasn’t the first time, and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

It took less than half an hour to set the charges. The mine was crumbling anyway, so it wouldn’t take much to send it sky-high.

Damon, Justice, and I stood by the Ford Fairlane. The air had grown cooler, and a chill raced down my spine. My heart raced as I waited for the impending doom.

Damon held the detonator in his hand, a look of steely determination in his eyes. “Time to close shop,” he muttered, his thumb hovering over the button.

I clenched my fists as I watched the mine entrance, and the world seemed to hold its breath for a split second. Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder reverberated off the mountainside, and a titanic boom shook the ground beneath our feet.

Smoke and rocks spewed from the mouth of the mine in angry eruptions, each detonation thundering louder than the last. The sky filled with thousands of birds, their panicked cries ringing above the chaos. My blood pumped faster, pounding between my ears.

Dust and debris billowed from the mine, a cloud of destruction that mushroomed into the sky. The earth trembled, and for a moment, it felt like the world had ended. Then, as quickly as it began, the chaos subsided, leaving behind a ringing silence.

Damon watched the aftermath, a wry smile playing on his lips. “Well, that’s one way to make an exit,” he quipped as he pocketed the detonator. The mine entrance had collapsed, sealing whatever horrors it contained within its shattered depths.

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